If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Packing heat may backfire. People who carry guns are far likelier to get shot – and killed – than those who are unarmed, a study of shooting victims in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has found.

It would be impractical – not to say unethical – to randomly assign volunteers to carry a gun or not and see what happens. So Charles Branas's team at the University of Pennsylvania analysed 677 shootings over two-and-a-half years to discover whether victims were carrying at the time, and compared them to other Philly residents of similar age, sex and ethnicity. The team also accounted for other potentially confounding differences, such as the socioeconomic status of their neighbourhood.

Despite the US having the highest rate of firearms-related homicide in the industrialised world, the relationship between gun culture and violence is poorly understood. A recent study found that treating violence like an infectious disease led to a dramatic fall in shootings and killings.

Overall, Branas's study found that people who carried guns were 4.5 times as likely to be shot and 4.2 times as likely to get killed compared with unarmed citizens. When the team looked at shootings in which victims had a chance to defend themselves, their odds of getting shot were even higher.

I'll also have a S&W .38 revolver passed down to me eventually. Belonged to my great-grandfather and grandfather and my dad has it now. Fun as hell to load that up with the hollow points and shoot some water jugs.

None. I believe that guns are miserable failures when it comes to home defense. Consider: A gun is most likely locked up if you are a responsible gun owner with children in the home. As such, if a home invasion occurs, the chances of you locating, unlocking the gun and successfully thwarting a home invader as you wipe away the sleep from your eyes during a tense situation in the darkness of your home does not give one the best odds. Additionally, most home intruders, one would assume, are attempting to rob your home not murder those within it, although there are cases where rape is the intruder's intent. If the intent of the intruder is to rob your home, they certainly do not desire to murder those within it. However, once a homeowner with a gun enters the equation, the stakes are upped, and the intruder's defenses are triggered. Its you or him. Introducing a gun into the equation greatly enhances the chances that you or a family member will be killed by the armed intruder, regardless of your skills with a firearm.

A home alarm system and a canine are far superior home defense systems. Plus, a dog also provides something that a gun could never provide - love and companionship.

In addition to the aforementioned failure of guns as home defense tools, statistics show that gun owners are much more likely to be killed by guns than non-gun owners - either due to accidents or crimes of passion.

That being said, I am all for your right to own a gun, although I fail to see the need for semi-automatic or automatic rifles in the homes of regular citizens.

I cannot speak for all, but I do own several guns, and I do not carry. Would anyone like to know why I do not carry? Mostly from what was taught in my firearms training course. My teacher painted a picture completely the opposite of what is portrayed in the movies about some responsible gun owner pulling a gun to thwart a robbery, in fact it was much closer to the response Zimmerman has been through since he used a gun to POSSIBLY save his life.

He told us even under the most perfect circumstances with all factors on your side that he promised us it would be the worst day of our life. I would never pull my weapon unless there was no other possible way to get out of it, if getting out of the house would put the threat to an end, that's what i would do.

Understand this though, if you know what you are doing a gun most certainly is NOT A FAILURE as a home defense tool, you just have to understand the best way to use it, and never use it under the wrong circumstances. I agree with the no need to uselessly raise the stakes in any situation.

I do not mean to hit a nerve, but I can't help but think at least a few of the adults that were slain by that monster were wishing for something substantial to fight back with, wouldn't you agree?

None. I believe that guns are miserable failures when it comes to home defense. Consider: A gun is most likely locked up if you are a responsible gun owner with children in the home. As such, if a home invasion occurs, the chances of you locating, unlocking the gun and successfully thwarting a home invader as you wipe away the sleep from your eyes during a tense situation in the darkness of your home does not give one the best odds. Additionally, most home intruders, one would assume, are attempting to rob your home not murder those within it, although there are cases where rape is the intruder's intent. If the intent of the intruder is to rob your home, they certainly do not desire to murder those within it. However, once a homeowner with a gun enters the equation, the stakes are upped, and the intruder's defenses are triggered. Its you or him. Introducing a gun into the equation greatly enhances the chances that you or a family member will be killed by the armed intruder, regardless of your skills with a firearm.

A home alarm system and a canine are far superior home defense systems. Plus, a dog also provides something that a gun could never provide - love and companionship.

In addition to the aforementioned failure of guns as home defense tools, statistics show that gun owners are much more likely to be killed by guns than non-gun owners - either due to accidents or crimes of passion.

That being said, I am all for your right to own a gun, although I fail to see the need for semi-automatic or automatic rifles in the homes of regular citizens.

I would have to ask you who do you think are the usual people that get shot in a usual city? For instance if this study was done in Chicago my guess would be that most of the people that were shot were also carrying, is this so hard to understand? Criminals shoot other criminals regularly.

My town or island in NY is absolutely FULL of guns, we are very big with sportsmen. My wife used to say I had too many guns, when we bought our house here we soon found out both of my neighbors collections dwarfed mine.

Would you like to know the last time we had any issue with a gun in my Town of ~20 thousand people? There was one, and it was about 4 or 5 years ago, I think that would put us amongst the most safe places in any country.

In short the problem with this study is its designed to make people think that normal law abiding citizens that carry are getting murdered at a much higher rate than usual. This is NOT THE CASE, thugs that carry guns illegally, usually , get killed at a much higher rate than normal...big surprise.

There are COUNTLESS cases of home invasions being thwarted by guns in the house. Saying that they will never help is complete nonsense. Just go to youtube and type home invasions/guns. And you will find a plethora of cases.

"Politics is the Art of Looking for Trouble, Finding it Everywhere, Diagnosing it Incorrectly, and Applying the Wrong Remedies"

I for one have the best dog on the face of the planet. He's the best guard dog ever. Having a dog greatly increases your chances of getting your gun in time to defend your home. I've had to do it once before when he went apesh!t because someone was in our backyard in the middle of the night. I got my gun and let my dog loose on whoever it was. They took off of course and ran into the woods behind my house. I went outside and annouced to whoever it was that I was armed and that you better go. Drank a couple of beers on the patio while my dog patrolled the property then went to bed. The best home defense in a good dog and a good gun.

I for one have the best dog on the face of the planet. He's the best guard dog ever. Having a dog greatly increases your chances of getting your gun in time to defend your home. I've had to do it once before when he went apesh!t because someone was in our backyard in the middle of the night. I got my gun and let my dog loose on whoever it was. They took off of course and ran into the woods behind my house. I went outside and annouced to whoever it was that I was armed and that you better go. Drank a couple of beers on the patio while my dog patrolled the property then went to bed. The best home defense in a good dog and a good gun.

That is exactly right, the dog, and your announcement that you were armed "disarmed" the situation, you gave the would be criminals the chance to abort, and everyone ended up safe.